In angiology, cardiology, interventional radiology, neuroradiology, and in other fields, for example, in surgery, percutaneous transluminal catheterization procedures are performed in hollow organs. For these procedures, the common femoral artery in the inguinal region is generally used as the access route. An opened artery remains at the end of the procedure. In the artery, blood pulsates with a systolic pressure of more than 100 mmHg. If the arterial opening is not closed, there is a danger of development of a hemorrhage which, as a hematoma and/or false aneurysm, takes on clinical importance, i.e., has to be treated. The surgical access route is closed off at the end of the procedure to prevent these complications, either by compression or use of a sealing system. If the lock diameter needed for the intervention is greater than 5 Charrière, sealing systems are routinely used to seal the arterial opening. Catheterization procedures are also increasingly being performed for which large-lumen locks are needed. The diameters of these, for example, for inserting an aorto-iliac endoprosthesis, are as much as 28 Charrière.
The publication “Arterial closure devices” by J. B. Madigan, L. A. Ratnam and A. M. Belli in The Journal of Cardiovascular Surgery, 2007; 48:607-624 contains an overview of the sealing systems hitherto used in practice. Sealing systems described in that publication, and other sealing systems, are known from the following patent literature: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,744,364, 5,350,399, 5,441,517, 5,593,422, 5,620,461, 5,916,236, 6,764,500 B1 (corresponding to EP 0 474 752 B1), U.S. Pat. No. 7,169,168 B2, US 2007/0135842 A1, WO 89/11301, EP 0 776 179 B1, DE 196 20 620 A1, EP 0 955 901 B1 and EP 0 474 752 B2.
Generally, in the known sealing systems, an inner bearing element, designed to bear on the inner face of the hollow organ in the area of the puncture opening, is inserted in a folded or rolled-up state through a catheter into the interior of the hollow organ and then deployed. The inner bearing element is generally provided with a retention element or connection element which is guided through the puncture opening in the wall of the hollow organ and through the overlying skin and is secured there to retain the bearing element at the correct location. A string or rod generally serves as the retention or connection element. Outer bearing elements are also known which are placed on the outer face of the wall of the hollow organ and are connected to the inner bearing element via the connection element.
Introduction of the inner bearing element and the deployment thereof can lead to complications, particularly if the diameter of the hollow organ is small. In some sealing systems, the cross section of flow through the hollow organ is modified in an unacceptable manner not only during fitting of the system, but also thereafter.
It could therefore be helpful to make available a sealing system in which the inner bearing element can be easily introduced into the hollow organ in a manner substantially independent of the diameter of the hollow organ and without disturbing the flow through the organ.